2023 SWIM OPEN STOCKHOLM
Ireland’s premier freestyler has done it again, as 21-year-old Daniel Wiffen lowered his own national record in the men’s 400m freestyle tonight.
While competing on day one of the Swim Open Stockholm, Wiffen produced the faster time of his career, hitting 3:44.35 en route to gold.
That denied the gold to a stacked field, one which included Austrian Felix Auboeck, Lithuanian Danas Rapsys and Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk.
Auboeck settled for silver in a still-speedy 3:44.71 while Rapsys rounded out the top 3 in 3:46.56. Romanchuk placed 4th in a time of 3:46.66.
Entering this competition, Wiffen’s personal best and Irish national record stood at the 3:46.62 he logged at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. That rendered the Loughborough swimmer the 4th place finisher, just .13 outside of the bronze medal.
With tonight’s result, Wiffen knocked well over a second and a half off his best-ever to establish the new Irish standard.
| Previous Wiffen Record | New Wiffen Record |
| 54.39 | 54.00 |
| 57.56 | 56.52 |
| 58.26 | 56.94 |
| 56.41 | 56.89 |
| 3:46.62 | 3:44.35 |
Wiffen’s 3:44.35 now ranks him 2nd in the world this season, sitting only behind leader Lucas Martens of Germany who wears the crown in 3:43.32.
| 2 | Marco De Tullio |
ITA | 3:44.69 | 04/13 |
| 3 | Kim Woomin |
KOR | 3:45.59 | 03/30 |
| 4 | Elijah Winnington |
AUS | 3:45.84 | 12/12 |
| 5 | Ahmed Hafnaoui |
TUN | 3:46.02 | 03/02 |
Tonight’s performance is simply in line with the trajectory for on-fire Wiffen. Last year he became Ireland’s first-ever European Record holder when he clocked a time of 7:25.96 in the SCM 800 free.
He is the national record holder in the LCM 800m free with his 7:46.32 from last year’s World Championships while he also notched new Irish marks in the SCM 400 and 1500 freestyle events last December.
